SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Ermonela Jaho – Violetta Valéry

Kai Rüütel – Flora Bervoix

Changhan Lim – Marquis D’Obigny

Eddie Wade – Baron Douphol

Robert Lloyd – Doctor Grenvil

Robert Anthony Gardiner – Gastone de Letorières

Saimir Pirgu – Alfredo Germont

Sarah Pring – Annina

Neil Gillespie – Giuseppe

Dmitri Hvorostovsky – Giorgio Germont

Charbel Mattar – Messanger

Jonathan Coad – Servant

It must be the devil’s own work trying to keep La Traviata fresh since opera seasons without it are the exception rather than the rule. Richard Eyre’s production, excellent as it is, has been on the Royal Opera books since 1994, when it was conducted by the now long deceased Georg Solti. And this season alone it is scheduled for two separate runs at Covent Garden and a tour of the Far East.

Do the singers know their parts? Of course they do. Such is the demand for this opera that if you’ve done a major role in it once, you’re well on the way to being typecast. Ermonela Jaho, this evening’s Violetta has been singing the part onstage since she was 17, and Hvorostovsky’s relationship with Germont goes back at least as far as the first staging of this production, when he’d have been a 20-something father to Alfredo. (Despite the white hair, he still looks young for the part.)

One musician who doesn’t know La Traviata quite as well as he might is Leonard Slatkin. When he recently tried, and failed, to bluff it at the Met, Yves Abel was one of the Verdi aficionados drafted in to replace him for the remainder of the run. It was Abel at the podium this evening, so we were in good, or at least safe, hands.

Actually, I think safe is closer. Musically, this performance was competent rather than exceptional. The orchestra, I assume, are also relied upon to know the work inside out, and there was nothing in their performance to suggest it had been afforded lavish rehearsal. Ensemble in the strings was occasionally wayward, and the staccato funeral march from the brass in the last act was prone to stutter. A good performance from the choir in each of their set pieces, although they too had occasional ensemble problems and got noticeably ahead of the orchestra in the Brindisi.

That may have had something to do with the set. The action of the first act is enclosed in a circular anteroom framed by curving staircases. It’s a beautiful effect, but it forces the large chorus into a very small area at the back of the stage where they struggle to sing their best. The offstage ball is represented by huge shadows of dancing figures seen though the door at the back of the room. The offstage carnival procession in Act III is similarly represented – what a shame Verdi didn’t make more of that, imagine what Osvaldo Golijov would have done with it. But going back to Act I, there is a great moment towards the end; the ball has finished, and you see the musicians making their exit down those curved staircases, each carrying a cumbersome 19^th century instrument case.

La Traviata, as much as any opera, relies heavily on the dramatic and vocal skills of its principals, and here again the results suggested high competency rather than mould-breaking excellence. Ermonela Jaho has the stage presence and the pathos for Violetta. Apart from in the very quietest passages, she sings with a heavy vibrato, which I felt could have been reigned in a little. She brings a natural fluency to the ornamented lines in the first act, which is no mean feat. There were a few tuning problems at the very top, although more of a concern was her very brittle tone up there. Otherwise, though, it was a good performance, and the intimacy that she achieves in the quieter, soul-searching passages is a valuable asset.

Fellow Albanian Saimir Pirgu sang an Alfredo to match. He, too, lays on a thick vibrato, which mixes beautifully with Jaho’s in their duets. His was a secure performance, although perhaps not as dramatic as Jaho’s. The tumultuous climax to the second act fell flat, and I suspect Prigu was to blame, not really conveying the anger and resentment needed to make Violetta’s rejection dramatically significant. All the notes were there, but in general I didn’t find the tone of his voice particularly interesting or varied.

Predictably, the show was comprehensively stolen by Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Giorgio Germont. In terms of the drama, he has an easy time of it, as it can’t be that difficult to play the unfeeling ogre. Nevertheless, he commands the stage every time he walks onto it. His height and his white hair help, although the gold top hat seemed a little unnecessary. And what a voice! His tone is as rich as ever, his breath control superhuman. Despite his superstardom, he is sensitive to ensemble too. I was particularly impressed that he could maintain his commanding tone without resorting to excessive dynamics. I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say that he underplayed it, but he was obviously trying his best not to upstage the other principals. It didn’t work.

There were few surprises from the minor roles. Kai Rüütel makes a sympathetic Flora, Robert Anthony Gardiner a majestic, if slightly underpowered Gastone. The bass Charbel Mattar sang the messenger in Act II. It is a miniscule part, I think he has two lines, but both were excellently delivered. It isn’t really an ensemble piece, La Traviata, but given the resources of talent the Royal Opera can draw on for these minor roles, that’s a great shame.

An entertaining performance then, but several steps below exceptional. This is a production that looks really good, and Bob Crowley’s sets fully justify their repeated and continuing use. The merry-go-round of singers and conductors that such a long-lived production must rely on is bound to throw up mixed results however. This evening’s were certainly mixed, and it wasn’t led from the top of the cast list quite as it should have been. But there were plenty of engaging performances, not least from Hvorostovsky. Against all the odds, they’re still keeping this opera fresh.

Gavin Dixon